Our animal companions, (pets) truly do become family members and when their time here in the physical form has come to an end and they have passed and joined your ancestors in death, the pain can be unbearable. The passing of a loved one often prompts one to explore what is beyond the veil of death and to seek answers from those who seem to know something about such matters and many turn to psychics and mediums for answers.

There is nothing wrong with seeking answers about the bigger questions in life, the problem is that many times you get different and conflicting information from multiple sources, when each source is posed with the same question. When seeking out answers remember that if someone can tell you what your pet is thinking in detail, that they had better be able to describe that animal and very specific details about them to verify their connection. If you are asked to provide a wealth of detail about your loved one in order to establish a connection, ask additional questions once a “connection” has been “established” in order to verify the strength of the connection. For example, I might ask questions such as favorite place to sleep, type of diet, what time of year they came into the family, and other very specific questions.

As a psychic medium and animal communicator who has provided thousands of connections over the past nine years, I would say that it is safe to say that I have a little bit of knowledge with regards to the big reincarnation question.

Every week I am asked about reincarnation and if and when a beloved animal companion will be returning to you during this lifetime in another body of the same species, or in some cases another species altogether, such as a dog coming back as a cat or a human.

Here is my response: No. Your animal will not be returning to you in another physical form during this present lifetime of yours, and here is why I know this.

Every animal that I have reached out to who has passed has come through, very rarely it has taken more than one attempt to make contact, but in the vast majority of the cases I establish contact fairly quickly.

Regardless of what time period your past animals are from, they are able to come through with ease.

Your animals who have passed inform me that they will interact with new and or existing animals in your home, this can sometimes lead someone to believe that their past animal has returned as a new animal is exhibiting behaviours that similar or the same as your past animal. It is simply your past animal coaching your new animal, for fun and to demonstrate that they are still present in the home.

I am yet to connect with a single animal that has revealed that they had come back from a previous pets body.

I have never had a past animal tell me that they are coming back in another body.

If they reincarnated as some would have us believe, our animals would suffer form the same thing that we do, no solid memories of our past lives and relationships, thus making reincarnation a pointless exercise.

Our loved ones continue to watch over us in spirit and in reading after reading I have brought forth solid confirmations of our past animals and human companions watch our current day to day activities.

In one reading a client had been informed by another “psychic” that her cat was going to come back to her at a local shelter and the charlatan went so far as to describe the physical appearance that the new body would look like. This was after she asked me where her cat was at the time of the reading, I saw the cat on a dresser in a box. It turns out the cats ashes were where I was describing.

In my experience those who claim to know when and where your animal is going to reincarnate and come back to you are simply fleecing the grieving.

It’s all about burden of proof. With only a name and species, I, or any other good psychic medium will describe in detail your animals physical appearance, breed, age, manner of passing, diet, favorite activities, how acquired, favorite person, favorite treats, personality, living arrangements, and much, much more.

Bottom line is I believe that our loved ones wait for us in spirit and that once we join them in spirit we can have full closure and bring everything full circle. After reuniting in spirit, I believe that our journey may continue together, provided that is what the two of you agree to.

No photos should be required to make a telepathic connection with a loved one in spirit or with a living animal.

In February I will be returning to Tucson, Arizona to host a number of events and to provide in person private readings. One of the activities is a workshop designed to teach you the basics of telepathy so that you may learn to communicate with your own animals and loved ones in spirit. This blog post is for those who are attending this workshop as well as anyone else looking to develop their own intuitive and telepathic abilities so that you too can talk with the animals and the spirits of our ancestors, guides and loved ones.

With a background in computer science I have a different approach than many when it comes to the subject of telepathy and communication with spirit. I see great parallels with regard to what I have been doing on a near daily basis for the past nine years and the way that our smart phones work.

Computers and the universe communicate in binary code – a series of ones and zeros or energy pulses and flat lines.

When you burn a finger on a hot plate it takes a moment before the pain registers, why? because there is a series of hard wired pathways called nerves that travel through your finger into your hand and up your arm and finally into your brain.

Your brain processes a series of electrical impulses that traveled through your body from the original site of the injury and then you “feel” it. It’s similar to curb sensors designed to aid you in parking your vehicle – should you be equipped with such. This brings me to another point.

Our bodies are essentially vehicles for the spirit. The spirit survives both inside and outside the body and can function much the same as a human outside of their vehicle, so even if your vehicle breaks down you can still get out and walk, or in the case of spirit fly.

The brain is a sophisticated on board computer and interface for the driver of the vehicle and the brain processes/displays information in a way that is similar to our smart phones, tablets and other computing devices which employ a single screen as part of their user interface.

When you “picture” something in your mind, you are essentially employing your brains visual processing center, when you receive information from an outside source, such as downloading a video on Youtube, you are still viewing that information in the same location as the drawing app that you were just utilizing in your mind while picturing something else – perhaps related or, often times not.

Regardless of the source of the information you are processing it is all displayed in the same location, the important thing is determining the source of the information and it’s context in relation to you and your life.

For example:

Imagine that you are out for a run and while running around the local park you have a song pop into your head. It may be one that you have not heard in some time, yet is one that you associate with a loved one in spirit. You may find your thoughts drifting to the person you associate the song with and you may suddenly experience an intense upwelling of emotion, perhaps a strong or mild current of “energy” coursing though your body, like an adrenaline burst or a static electrical discharge. This may happen with other experiences too, such as smells, sounds, quick visions, physical sensations, raw emotions and even food cravings, a desire to watch a particular movie or listen to a particular piece of music. All of these types of experiences may be associated with a loved one in spirit or a present animal reaching out to you.

When one of the previously mentioned types of events takes place, stop and ask yourself a simple question – “Did I generate this piece of information?” wait for a moment and then ask “Is this a message coming to me from another individual?”

After asking each question, wait for a few seconds and see if you feel a pulse of energy associated with one of the queries versus the other.

When you do not feel anything, that is a “no” response.

A gentle or strong energy pulse indicates a “yes” response.

Please note that like the old game “hot and cold” it is possible to receive a mild yes when close to the right information, yet not quite accurate. When you get the correct information often times you will receive a fairly strong pulse of energy to indicate that you nailed it.

This approach to communication works equally well for animals who are living, animals in spirit and our human loved ones and ancestors in spirit.

Living animals need not be present to be communicated with and just like your smart phone, communication can take many forms.

It is my firm belief that a photograph and or description of the animals and or individuals being communicated with is not needed and instead is a crutch and at worst allows many to commit fraud, claiming abilities that they may or may not utilize or even understand.

Before going further, a few things to bear in mind.

Telepathy works regardless of species and native language, in other words if grandmother only speaks in Danish that should not be an issue in the least with regard to telepathic communication.

Using the “yes/no” – “energy pulse versus flat line” approach to basic telepathic communication is fairly easily, and you can quickly determine who you are engaged with and perhaps much more.

I liken the early stages of telepathic communication to be similar to two individuals who are on different wavelengths, one on the high end and one on the low end and they are trying to create a connection somewhere in the middle. At first it’s similar to using “rabbit ears” on an old TV, or for you younger readers, like only being able to text another individual and not Skype them, then as you continue to connect with each other the connection is firmed up and suddenly you have a strong connection complete with visuals and perhaps more.

When I am reaching out to connect with someone, (similar to calling someone from your smart phone) I am initially looking to receive a nuanced feedback loop if you will, similar to a person answering their phone with “yes” or similar. If you are not feeling any kind of energy pulse coming back upon saying the individuals name and asking them to connect, then they are not yet connecting. Sometimes an individual is not available when we would like them to be, just like our friends and loved ones here.

Sometimes a different party than the one you are looking to connect with will connect with you or you may simply wish to discover who that spirit is who you feel standing beside you while preparing dinner. Use the following suggested series of questions to aid in identifying who is connecting with you and why, or to simply verify that you have who you think you have communicating with you.

Are you male? Are you female? So you are ____. (If no yes response (energy pulse) to your statement, then go back to your questions.)

Are you human? Are you something other than human? So you are _____.

Are you family? (If human) Are you someone other than family? So you are ______.

You get the idea, so basically you are double checking each response you receive and reconfirming the response you got through turning it into a statement. As the questions vary dramatically the further you proceed, it works best to just get a feel for the technique and then to apply it, rather then to type out a rigid standard series of questions.

During the workshop you will be expected to attempt to “read” another participants animals and or loved ones. This exercise always is full of surprises as individuals discover their hidden abilities to communicate telepathically. It’s like driving a car from this day and age and thinking that you are driving an older vehicle that lacks all of the technological advancements in recent years such as “OnStar” curb sensors, rear view cameras and more, and to make matters worse, you don’t even know that such technology exists, or if you do – it may not be clear that you have it in your vehicle and or how to use it. Well, I am hear to tell you that we all have this technology built into our bodies, we just need to learn how to use it.

A few things to ponder.

Those in spirit are no more removed from than x-rays, gamma rays and other invisible “to the naked eye” forms of energy.

Animals who are living can “read you like an open book” and can communicate with you anywhere in the world telepathically.

Animals can see and communicate with those in spirit.

Humans and animals are not much different any more than a Ferrari is different from a Land Rover, both are vehicles whose drivers at the end of the day have far more in common than their vehicles. Of course the drivers of each vehicle will look at the environment through the prism of the vehicle they have chosen, which will to some extent color the way they see the world and how they interact with others.

Those in spirit can see and hear everything we are involved in – they do not need to be “physically” present in spirit in order to be aware of your activities. When you establish a friendship on Facebook, you then become aware of the feed of information that they are posting, now imagine that you can view everything they are experiencing and not just what they choose to post, those in spirit see everything.

Meditating can certainly help with regard to developing your abilities. Many have been taught to meditate by going through their mind and identifying and discarding any information in there, that’s like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. You have just cleared out your inbox without finding out why that material was in there. This is a good way to clear your mind for a nap. A better way to clear your mind is to go through the information you have in your mind and ask yourself a simple question, did I generate this, or is this a message from someone else. Often times you will find messages that are waiting to be “read” so to speak.

As with going online, and or using a smart phone, there are hazards that exist when reaching out to those in spirit. If it feels “off”, stop right away and request additional protection.

Protection is important and with a few simple guidelines you should find your experiences with spirit communication to be rather enjoyable as opposed to frightening and or stressful.

When you focus on someone or an event, you run the risk of bringing elements associated with those individuals or events into your home/life.

Do not watch news reports about heinous crimes, or disasters and then act surprised when you start to become overwhelmed by grief or other scary emotions or even stalked by spirits of the departed.

Avoid negative material in your life such as horror movies, true crime books or movies, and other entertainment that serves no purpose other than to revel in misery and fear.

Do read and or watch inspiring material regarding individuals who are of great spirit and vision.

Do ask for your loved ones, and ancestors to protect you.

In my experience there is no true evil, simply just very twisted and hurt individuals acting out in horrific ways.

Light always extinguishes darkness.

Another simple exercise you can utilize to aid in developing your abilities is while driving try and “read” the drivers around you and the actions they will take, such as when they will turn, change lanes, etc., another driving game involves “reading” the oncoming traffic and describing the color of the next vehicle to pass you or the type of vehicle.

You can call upon individuals you do not personally know and ask for them to reveal specific details about themselves that you can then research to verify a connection. Once I had a connection with a famous individual whom I was surprised to be in contact with. Having a personal “pinch me moment” with the spirit of this famous person I determined a way to verify that it was indeed them connecting with me. I asked for a detail I did not know about them, yet one I could easily research to verify. I was shown a specific injury which I was unaware of being associated with the spirit whom I was in contact with. Sure enough upon doing some research later that day I determined that the information was correct in regards to being tied to the spirit of the individual whom I had been previously in contact with.

Dreams make a good learning environment in which to learn more about these abilities. I suggest the following exercise.

Take a notepad and write down the names of those you wish to contact. Ask for them to help teach you how to communicate more effectively on a telepathic level. Write at the bottom of the note that you will remember your dream upon awakening. Fold the note up and place it under your pillow as you fall asleep, this should aid in generating a quality dream that you can recall the following day.

When coming to the workshop you will want to bring the following materials: Pens and pencils, a notepad, a pillow, photos of loved ones (Do not share with anyone until instructed to do so.) a water bottle and any small items associated with past loved ones such as watches, tags, jewelry etc., while not required for contact, they can help.

You are encouraged to read as much as you can from my blog and website to understand how I work, what to expect and to gain additional insight into how you too can communicate with the spirits of your loved ones human and animal as well as connecting with our living animals.

People often ask me, “How is it possible to do what you do without being there in person?” and the answer is really quite simple.

Think of me as a smart phone, laptop computer or similar device. I have a wireless connection to everyone else out there.

From my understanding at it’s core all communication through such devices is handled via binary code, or a series of ones and zeros – energy pulses and flat lines, for myself when I am first making contact I am looking to “feel” the other individuals energy and I may simply ask, “Is “name of individual” here?” and when the answer is a “yes” I often times feel a gentle burst of energy, like a mild adrenaline rush or static electrical discharge.

Just like your devices that are wireless and connected to the internet, I too can translate the binary code into a format that you readily understand, such as text, videos, sound and more.

While I do not fully understand the intimate process of converting binary code into text, in the sense that I cannot look at a series of ones and zeros and read it, I don’t have to as my on-board computer (the brain) is very capable of translating it for me.

Another parallel to the computer/brain analogy is that regardless of the type of data you are working with on your smart phone or lap top, all of the information is displayed on a single screen. Regardless of the source of the material, from your hard drive, from a thumb drive, or from the internet, all of the material that you are working with is displayed in that one location. The same is true for telepathic/psychic communication.

Our brain acts as our computer screen and when our loved ones in spirit or our living animals connect with us, that is where their communications will be displayed/received.

The old meditation technique of clearing the mind of all your thoughts and images only serves to “throw out the baby with the bathwater” as you will be clearing your internal inbox. This technique works well when counting sheep as failed and you are trying to go to sleep, however if your goal is to connect with your higher self and those in spirit, or with the animals in your life, you will be tossing out all their messages as well.

One is advised to instead ask yourself a very simple question with regard to the material in our mind – “Did I generate this piece of information?” and after asking wait for a simple “yes/no” response. A yes will feel like and energy burst and a no will be a flat line.

Example: you go to clear your mind and you find a song running in the background of your mind, one that you have not heard for some time and one that perhaps has been popping into your head for awhile, You may come to find out that the song is a message from a loved one whom you associate the memory of the song with. Recently while providing a connection for a woman whose dog had passed I “heard” a country western song and brought it forward, it turns out that in the memorial slideshow that she made for her dog after his passing, she had used that particular song and the dog wanted to let her know that he was aware of the memorial that she had made regarding him.

Smells are also a powerful messenger as they can be “pushed through” from the other side, recently while making contact with a person who wanted to connect with their passed dog I smelled salt air. I asked about their proximity to the ocean, turns out it’s in their backyard and the dog spent the last three months of it’s life lying on the sand on the beach in the backyard.

When I “experience” something that has happened to another individual, a spirit of a past loved one, or an animal that his still here with us, I actually feel as though the experience is happening to me.

How you ask? Picture the following:

Our body is nothing more than a vehicle for our time in the physical.

Just as an airplane has a “black box” on board that records all the of vital data regarding flight path, pilot actions and instrument readings, the physical body does as well.

The information that is gathered by our five senses is relayed via electrical impulses through the nervous system to our CPU, i.e. our brain and is then processed – hence the reason it takes a second for pain to register when one stubs a toe or similar.

By replicating the data that is being relayed by the fives senses it is possible for one to have the sensations/feelings that another individual experienced and it may feel so real that it almost feels real.

It’s like taking the data in a flight recorder from a particular time and date to another time and date and then hitting playback.

I can experience what it feels like to fall out of an airplane without my parachute functioning and live to tell about it, unlike the individual whose data I am reading, or anything else for that matter and this covers both physical sensations, thoughts in their mind and emotions.

For me telepathic communication with animals and the spirits of the departed, human or animal is a very visceral experience.

As a psychic medium and animal communicator I have taken to Facebook as a way to stay connected with my “fans” and to teach others about what I do and to educate individuals about psychic phenomena and much more.

Since I work so much with animals I have a lot of animal rescue type folks who I am “friends” with.

A while back I went through my friends list and deleted several who had been posting fairly graphic and gruesome images of animal abuse.

I posted about it afterwards and took some flak from some who felt that it was the only way to draw attention to the abuse that is going on out there. Trust me I am aware of it, but having such images in my news feed made me hesitant to open up Facebook when my kids were around as I did not want to expose my at the time 6 year old girl to such horrific images. I took flak for that too, with people saying that I was too sheltering and that I should let my kids know such evil exists. Trust me, they know, but there is no reason for them to be assaulted by such images on a daily basis.

I strongly believe that the tactic of displaying horrific images of abuse and neglect do more harm than good.

If it is so successful why doesn’t the community that advocates victims rights it rape and violent crimes also use such techniques?

How about your news feed being filled up with images of chopped up humans, dead babies with their eyes gouged out, and burned children – with as graphic as possible images and descriptions typed up beside them. Odds are you would be very offended, and yet when animals are displayed in such a way it’s different? How???

Instead of wanting to learn more, instead of feeling the need to find out more about the person who posted such images and what their cause is, instead I un-friend them, and shy away.

While there is a serious problem with animal abuse in this country and the world in general, I feel the proper way to approach the subject is to bombard us with images of happy, healthy animals that make us want to see more, photos that show their softer side, ones that endure them to us – perhaps with a caption that tells us that this happiness is only possible provided that steps be taken to end the suffering of their bothers and sisters.

As a psychic medium who communicates with deceased animals, I can assure you that they do not appreciate the graphic images taken from their final moments or soon after their passing being displayed for all the world to see.

A side effect that most of you may not consider is the fact that animals are telepathically bonded to those who come into contact with them or with information about them.

The very act of viewing a photograph of an animal is enough to establish a telepathic bond with it, as such every time you look at such an image and think about it, you are drawing that animals attention right back to their traumatic experience and making it more difficult to move on.

Please as someone who cares greatly for the animals on this planet, if you are an animal rights activist or an animal rescue cross poster, please reconsider the use of graphic and horrific images to further your cause, I along with many others feel that it does more harm than good to use such images, not only to the animals themselves, but to your cause as a whole.

Chicago has slowly but surely been winning me over. My recent trip was filled with warmth and hospitality that I have begun to associate with the Windy City. My second trip to Chicago in as many years began with a missing dog and ended up in the stables of a horse barn in Beecher. During my stay I headlined the launch party for K94keeps.org – a new Chicago area dog rescue group and put on an animal communication clinic for the ABU Arabian Horse Club in Beecher, IL. In my travels I came into contact with some wonderful people and made new friends, best of all I changed several lives and communicated with dozens of animals, living and past including cats, dogs, horses a monkey and even a lama.

In early August this year Kristin Yoshida lost her dog Milo in Chicago. When she contacted me to locate him I was successful in making contact with him and having him lead us directly to him. He told me the area where he went missing, showed me where he was. He was in a hurry to get rescued, he told me that he was stuck in a parking garage. His leash was jammed under the tire of a vehicle that he described as a cross between an SUV and a sedan. Milo said that the vehicle was white with black and green company logo/lettering on it. He said that he could not vocalize because his collar had gotten tight around his neck in his efforts to free himself. When he was found, he was as I had described, underneath a white Enterprise rent a van.

The story of his recovery was big news as was the story of his disappearance. That night Milo’s story was on TV http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=8295871 and I was once again happy to see an animal rescued due to my ability to communicate with them telepathically. The building where he lived was buzzing with the news of his amazing story and pretty soon one of the individuals who works at the building contacted me about her animals, several cats and horses. She was very happy with the connections I provided for her and she asked if I could connect with her boarders and their horses.

Soon after her initial “reading” she arranged a get together at her stables and the phone was passed around with me connecting everyone present to the horses in front of them. At one point a horse who had passed came through, gave us his physical description and age and then delivered one of the most touching messages I have delivered in some time. The horse said, “When it is your turn to cross over to the other side, I will greet you and carry you across on my back.”

Milo has been going to Bark Avenue Playcare for awhile and Daniel and Amy mentioned that they were launching a dog rescue group called K94keeps.org. After adopting out and helping around 150 dogs over the past few years they along with a few others got together and founded the dog rescue group. To celebrate the launch of their non-profit dog rescue, they wanted to throw a party/fundraiser and thought I would be a great additional to their event.

One of the woman who I connected to her horses over the phone was connected to the ABU Arabian Horse Club and asked if I could put on a clinic for them. So with another missing dog out there, and events lined up I booked a flight and headed out to Chicago.

With my coming out to Chicago, I figured I would have one last chance to try and bring in a missing dog named Queenie, I had been volunteering my time over the phone to search for her and after hitting several snags felt as though we might finally have a chance of connecting with her. In my experience if an animal wants to be found, they typically cooperate fully, provide detail as to their whereabouts and are recovered fairly quickly or within the time frame they specify. Queenie had not cooperated from the beginning.

What had started out as your typical simple missing animal case had taken on a whole new dimension. Queenie took off near O’Hare airport in Wood Dale and belonged to a truck driver based in Oregon, over 2,000 miles away. Queenie, a “blue” Queensland Healer or cattle dog with a stubby tail had been caught twice, but gave each person the slip. She clearly did not want to be caught.

Shortly after getting involved in the search for her, it became apparent to me that the clues to her location were coming from someone else and not the dog. After having no sightings for over a week I was successful in pulling the search teams out of the wrong town and placing them within less than an hour of her whereabouts. Once the searchers converged on a park that I had led them to, a police officer stopped them and asked them what they were doing. When shown the missing poster he reported having seen the dog himself not more than 45 minutes earlier at an intersection about a block or two away.

With her within a short distance of the search teams she again gave those trying to help return her to her owner the slip, under the cover of darkness she disappeared into a nearby forest preserve. A few months later with winter fast approaching and a trip to Chicago taking place I decided to reach out and try and connect with her, so as to bring her in before the first snows had fallen.

Making contact with information concerning her possible whereabouts and having received no additional sightings since the last time she gave us the slip, a team was assembled and a location to focus on was brought to our attention. This time the search area was another forest preserve, a bit west of the last area she was seen in and far enough from the airport so that the noise of the planes was not as intense. Most importantly it was the type of environment that Queenie could easily survive in and stay hidden from those attempting to bring her in.

After searchers checked out the new location to no avail I figured that I would throw a “hail Mary” pass and try and locate her myself, in person.

So, with two events, private readings being booked, and a missing dog to locate, I drove to the airport in Sacramento and on a stormy Thursday boarded a flight to Denver where after a layover of a few hours I would be flying on to Chicago, Midway. Airplanes are entertaining in the sense that you are afforded a group of strangers who must spend several hours together in cramped quarters. Sometimes I will channel animals connected to those who I am sitting with. On one of the flights, a woman who had a fear of flying was flying with her daughter of college age. He daughter kept trying to calm her down and she was nervous about everything that was going on in the plane, she kept asking if various sounds etc., were normal.

After we had taken off I revealed what kind of work I do. The woman and her daughter asked about one of their animals. In attempting to make a connection I saw an older screen door that had a wooden frame and that opened outward on hinges. Bother the woman and her daughter said that they did not have a screen door like that, theirs was a slider. I then heard the number 16 to which I saw a cat being connected to it and the screen door. The woman then told me that she had a screen door like the one I described at their last house and that a cat who would be 16 now had gone missing outside that very door.

The flight went by very quickly and after landing the woman and daughter expressed appreciation for the connections as well as the very distracting conversation which kept her from panicking on the flight. She mentioned that on a previous flight she ended up on the floor of the aircraft with a flight attendant holding her. Once I had exited the aircraft and met my host for my stay in the Chicago area, I picked up my luggage and we drove a little over an hour to the south of Chicago, to a town called Beecher.

For the duration of my stay I was the a guest at a private residence among the cornfields and horse ranches on the outskirts of Beecher, about a city block from the state line with Indiana. When we pulled up to the 100 year old farmhouse I was staying at I briefly was concerned that there might be a presence in the house, to my relief it was ghost free and I found myself soon making good friends with a dog named Johnson. Chris and Diana showed me great warmth and hospitality and I greatly enjoyed my stay at the farm house. It was like a bed and breakfast, I quickly adjusted to central time and enjoyed my morning cup of coffee while taking in the view of the fields and gently rolling hills.

After sleeping in the first morning, I went over to the stables and met the horses and barn cats. Later that Friday evening I had the fundraiser I was doing for the dog rescue up in the city, but for now I was free to connect with the horses that I had only previously met telepathically. Several of the cats and horses connected with me and I greatly enjoyed my morning and afternoon. I had a few phone readings that I knocked out from the house and then after a bit we headed up to Chicago Party Animals on Fulton in Chicago where the fundraiser party was taking place. I had a few private in person readings before the event got underway and with not a minute to spare we made it to the venue.

The private readings went very well and then it was time for the fundraiser to get underway. People were hunting for parking, getting stuck in traffic and so we started late as people were still arriving. After a quick introduction by Daniel, I went on and after a brief lecture and had fielded a few general questions, I began the portion of the evening that everyone had been waiting for.

An open channeling session is what I call it when I simply bring through animals that I see coming in of their own accord, and not necessarily those that people are wishing to connect with. By doing an open session I can for the most part eliminate what I call “line jumpers” or those who show up on occasion instead of the individual I am being asked to connect with. After an open channeling session of 30 minutes or so I will then switch to a focused channeling session where I will call on members of the audience who have raised their hand and who then provide me the name of an animal to connect with followed by a quick question for them. This approach works equally well for living or deceased animals.

The first connection I had coming through was a dog who had been disabled. I saw a harness for the back legs being assembled, but never completed or utilized, like the animal had crossed over before ever using the harness. A woman in the crowd raised her hand and after I called on her, she confirmed that was her dog coming through. She had built a harness for him and just before it was completed the dog had died. The dogs message was that even though he never had a chance to use the harness, that it meant a lot to him that she had put the effort forward to help him and that it did not go unnoticed.

After I was done with the dog with the harness, I looked over to the left side of the room and saw a monkey standing against the wall. Since this was a dog rescue fundraiser I was surprised to see an animal that walks upright coming through. I brought forward to the crowd that I had an animal coming through that walked upright. Briefly flashing on videos I have seen where dogs who have their front legs either missing or disabled, have learned to walk upright I realized that this was no dog. The monkey informed me that they were not a dog or an ape and that they were a Capuchin monkey.

As I brought forward the monkey and described them to the audience, the same woman who had the dog with the harness raised her hand and claimed a connection to the monkey. When she was younger her mother had a jeweler she would frequent. This jeweler owned a monkey that sat in a cage on one of his display cases. In order to entice her young daughter to accompany her at the jewelers, the mother would remind her daughter that once there she could visit with and play with the monkey. The girl began to look forward to her visits with the monkey. The monkey from her childhood was coming through to confirm that she too enjoyed those visits and looked forward to them as well. Very touching.

The rest of the evening was a blur as the connections pick up their pace and as the crowd loosened up and really got into it. After I was done and the last door prize had been raffled off, I hung around a bit and had the opportunity to meet some of the people whom I had channeled animals for. I made some great connections with people who greatly appreciate the work that I do and who themselves care greatly about animals and their welfare. With the launch party declared a success and talk of making the evening an annual event, we left and returned to Beecher for the evening.

The following day, Saturday was filled with private readings for those who had attended the event the prior evening. After spending the morning taking care of email and voice mail as well as working with the horses at the stables, we returned to Chicago. Before connecting with people from the prior evening I had a request to make a house call in old town and we headed out to the north end of downtown Chicago.

There was a woman who had some dogs who were overly aggressive to visitors and she was looking for help in dealing with their behavior. As promised, when I entered the home, two of her dogs went into full attack mode, everything short of actually biting, very aggressive barking and flashing their teeth as well as the whites of their eyes. After entering the kitchen/dining room, we sat down to talk about their behavior, pretty soon one of the dogs came over to me and began licking my hand and saying that he was sorry for his display of aggression.

I realized that there were a few issues that could be addressed. For one thing when the animals would go off barking and showing an aggressive display, the woman of the house would strongly react. She would become anxious and stressed out herself, while trying to get the animals to stop, she would get agitated and seemed to only feed their behavior. I told her that they were simply trying to be good guard dogs and that to help them she should tell them thank you for alerting us to a possible threat and now that you (the dogs) have done so, we can take it from here. In addition, if she and her husband told the dogs that while they are home they can watch things, and the dogs can relax until they are gone or in bed, and then it’s the dog’s turn to keep watch.

Secondly a lot of what was going on was that every guest who came over was subjected to the same treatment I had received and that by doing so, the visit became one about the dogs and their behavior and not about the guest and their reason for visiting. So if they instead put the dogs in time out for such behavior instead of having to explain it to their guests and then having one of the dogs coming over to lick the hand of the guest after the show of aggression, they could restore the visits to being focused on the guest and not the dogs who had figured out how to make every visit from someone into an event that was focused on them.

By rewarding the good behaviors and by setting small goals and by ignoring/properly responding to the bad behaviors and by taking the focus off of the dogs during visits and using a time out room if needed, I expect that in time order will be restored. My favorite part of the visit was when I was working with the dog who has proven to be the most aggressive. I was warned that he has bitten or nipped in the past. He was sitting on his bedding in the dining room, I then asked the dog if I could sit beside them. I was cautioned that when the housekeeper tries to clean near the dogs bedding that the dog becomes very aggressive and does not tolerate people coming near their bedding.

I simply sat on the edge of the bedding and pretty soon the dog began scooting closer and before long a paw was resting on my lap, by the time I was done we had really connected I was petting them as they lay beside me. Even the most savage (acting) animal wants to be loved and understood. I also spoke to the owners about using positive reinforcement with the way that they discuss their dogs behavior. I have high hopes that before too long the dogs will be much more relaxed and open to visits and will only go on the attack when needed.

Kristin, Milo and Charles Peden

My next series of in person readings was due to begin soon and so we left old town for the west side of Chicago and soon found ourselves at Bark Avenue Playcare on Fulton. Above their facilities is a photography studio and we utilized that space for private readings. My favorite connection that day was with Milo and Kristin. This was my first chance to meet Milo in person. I was cautioned that he does not seem to like men very much, however he would not stop giving me kisses for the longest time, finally someone grabbed a camera and got a few photos of the last few kisses he gave me.

Charles Peden with Milo the dog whose life was saved by telepathic communication.

Once done with the private readings we returned to Beecher and turned in for the evening. The following morning we woke up to a change in the weather, for my visit so far, the weather had been in the sixties and clear, now it was wet and windy with a chance of snow being forecast for a little later in the week. We began the day by attending to the horses at the stables and after mucking stalls, feeding and watering them I got ready for the afternoons event that was scheduled to begin around 2 pm. Prior to that I had one in person reading to do with a couple who could not stay for the event, after their reading was done people began showing up and I took a few minutes to relax before going on and doing a lecture followed by a group reading.

The event for the ABU Arabian Horse Club of Beecher was well attended and after my talk I began channeling. The first few connections were a bit rough with people not claiming them right away or with them completely forgetting about the animals coming through until later in the evening. After awhile things really picked up and many horses as well as other animals connected – including a lama. One of my favorite connections was this large black stallion that came through early on, he was bringing forward a message about how much he was sorry for having thrown his person and injuring them. No one claimed a connection to him until a gentleman arrived late. He jokingly asked his wife if “Cricket” had come through apologizing about the “moonshot” bucking he had delivered to the gentleman and the subsequent injury he received. I realized that this was the horse that had not yet been claimed and sure enough we got a confirmation.

After the event was done I had several private readings to attend to. One of my favorite private sessions involved a woman’s mother who I saw standing behind her daughter during the private session. When I described the woman and her style of glasses, the woman confirmed that was indeed her mother with her and that she was very much aware of her presence in her life, since her passing. After everyone had left we turned in for the evening and I began thinking about what I had scheduled for the next day – going out in person and looking for Queenie the missing dog.

Monday morning was foggy and cool, we drove nearly two hours away and to Mallard Lake Preserve east of O’Hare. We met up with a few other searchers, volunteers with the PACT Humane Society and after trying to get a read on Queenie’s location at the preserve – with no luck, we headed out. I typically do not search for missing animals in person, I simply make a telepathic connection with them and if they wish to be found, recovery usually takes place fairly quickly. Queenie had been missing now for months, with no additional sightings and I figured that this was a “hail Mary” pass, and that the odds were stacked against us, however being in Chicago right before the winter set in I figured it was worth one more attempt.

Prior to coming out to the preserve I had repeatedly told Queenie where to meet us and she had several days to get into position to be easily located. As it turned out she was not cooperating and after a few hours of wandering around in an area that seemed to be to her liking I called off my involvement in the search. If I had been receiving additional details as to her location within the preserve we would have continued looking, however if an animal does not wish to be located we could have been within ten feet of her and never known about it. Greatly disappointed, we left and decided to swing by a pet store and treat our dogs. We had brought Johnson a chocolate lab mix with us and my red healer, Peaches was back home in California.

As we went through the store I asked Johnson what he wanted and he picked out some treats for himself. I looked for a squeaky toy and some treats for her as well. While shopping for my dog I had a telepathic conversation with her where she let me know what type of treats she wanted and after checking out we returned to Beecher. Two hours later in Beecher I was on the phone with my wife when she mentioned Peaches telling her about a squeaky toy, I then told her that I had indeed purchased one for her. My wife said that Peaches had brought it to her attention 2 hours ago. I checked my receipt, I had purchased the toy and treats exactly 2 hours earlier. Diana, (my host for my stay) had overheard our conversation and asked me to ask my wife what color the squeaky toy was, without hesitation my wife replied that it was orange – it was.

Tuesday was originally going to be spent continuing to look for Queenie, provided that she was helping with locating her position, she was not cooperative and so instead I had some time to work with the horses in person. I spent the day mucking stalls, working the horses on their jumps in the arena and feeding and watering them. Tuesday evening was colder than all the other days I had been there and so on Wednesday we returned to the stables and I once again worked with the horses.

One of the horses in particular had an issue with men, Tia was known to shy away from men and she avoided them at all costs, so I was determined to connect with her. This time instead of just feeding, watering and cleaning stalls I also brushed all of the horses and put their blankets on. One of the horses had never worn a blanket before and when I dressed him, he took to it right away without fuss. When I approached Tia she was at first a bit shy, however pretty soon I had her brushed too and in her cold weather gear. She and I connected very well, she responds to a gentle approach and most men had tried to force their will on her which she would then reject. I really enjoyed spending time with her, and all the other horses for that matter.

During my last few days staying at the farmhouse in Beecher I had bonded very closely with Johnson and he had taken to sleeping with me each night, he made a wonderful bed mate and on my last day he was moping about – he’s not good with saying goodbye. As I waited for my flight at Midway, the first real snow of the season hit and I realized I was leaving just in time. My flight home was filled with my channeling animals connected to those sitting beside me and time passed quickly. I look forward to my next trip and to what adventures lie ahead. A heartfelt thank you goes out to those I connected with in Chicago, I will reflect fondly on the warmth of the hospitality that I found in the windy city.

Many of you have been asking about a book … one that I have not yet written, the good news is that I am now writing it.
The book will be about my journey from skeptic to full time psychic medium and animal communicator. I will share the story of how I have come to be where I am today and will include several good stories from past readings as well as pointers on how you too can do what I do. For those of you who cannot wait for my book to come out, I suggest reading my blog which can be accessed via my web site, just look for the link near the top of the page.

-Unanswered Prayers or Dashed Dreams-

Frequently in life we find ourselves in a situation where we feel that our prayers are not being answered. When something does not go the way we wanted or expected we can find ourselves wondering “What did I do wrong?”

On occasion when we are met by such an obstacle we feel helpless or as though our spirit guides are asleep at the wheel.

Consider this, we do not always appreciate the bigger picture.

Take a look at the example below:

Stella dreams of a life on the big screen. She has gone to all the right schools, studied under the right instructors and has been told that she has what it takes to be a star.

One day Stella hears of an audition for a television series where she fits the requirements for one of the leads that they are casting, and excited about the opportunity to finally make it big, she auditions. (While it’s not a movie, she figures it will give her exposure and lead to something on the big screen in the future.)

The audition goes very well and she feels that she has got the part.

A week later she receives a phone call from the casting director, they inform her that while it was close, she did not get the role.

Devastated she begs and pleads with her spirit guides and loved ones to move heaven and earth for her so that she may get the part on the TV series.

Her guides heed her call to action and miraculously she is called back three days later with the news that she has landed the role, the actress that they had cast had just signed on to another project, something about her taking the lead in a new movie that was being filmed.

Now let’s roll the clock back to the day that Stella got the phone call that she had been passed over for the role in the TV series.

Instead of being sad and disappointed about not getting the role that she wanted, she looked at it as a sign that there was something better out there for her, after all she wanted to star in a movie and not be on the small screen, (not that there is anything wrong with television, mind you … it just was not her dream.)

A day later her agent calls regarding an audition for a movie, the first in a trilogy of movies and it is a major production with a huge budget and big names … they just need a new face for the lead female role.

At the auditions she gets a very good vibe from the casting directors and ends up getting a call back the next day.

After the movies release, she is reading the news and while the movie she just was involved with is being considered for best picture at the Oscars, the TV show that she had auditioned for is being canceled after three episodes.

She was finally realizing her dream.

Sometimes we get too caught up in the day to day struggles of life and find ourselves willing to compromise our dreams. We believe that being told “no” or not succeeding to achive some of our small goals is an indication of overall failure … to live our dreams.

When we compromise or are willing to let defeat control us, we will find ourselves playing second fiddle to our dreams.

When we allow our stumbling blocks to become our building blocks, we can realize our true potential and live out our dreams.

Much of life is about perspective … the way that we view others, the way that we think that others view us is part of the way that we view ourselves.

Thoughts are very powerful. When we view things as being negative or bad for us, we reinforce that perception.

Placebos are very powerful in demonstrating the ability that our minds have to alter the physical world around and within ourselves, or at least our perceptions of such.

When we look at our “problems” it is helpful to put some context to them.

In the work that I do, I come into contact with people from all over the world. Here in America we have a great sense of entitlement or detachment from what is a struggle for much of the worlds population.

For the most part here in the good old US of A, we look at our nation as being the best in the world. Nearly all of us have a roof over our heads, some of us even have land, acres even! In addition to that we almost all have electricity, clean running water and sewers that work. Then there are the cars, not just one per a household, some have several and the boats, the RV’s the motorcycles and whatever else you have for recreational gear.

Now the majority of us here have friends and family who live nearby and are glad to lend a hand in difficult times. No one checks to make sure that you are not from another race or tribe, you are able to travel freely about the country without too many worries. The police for the most part do their best to protect us and to uphold the laws – which we took a part in forming through our legal system which though far from perfect, sure beats the heck out of a lot of other places.

All in all we have it good here, there are drive through fast food outlets and a ridiculous number of services which deliver to your door most anything you can ever imagine wanting.

We take for granted all of these things … when in many parts of the world, such things are simply dreams at this point.

The other day I was providing a reading for someone in Eastern Europe, when I suggested checking the local shelters and seeing if they would be of help with regard to a particular situation, the client told me that such things did not yet exist in their country.

Can you imagine the United States with not a single animal shelter let alone laws against animal cruelty? In many parts of the world that they have no animal rights and or services …

As long as we can avoid compromising our dreams and just settling in order to feel like we got something, things will continue to happen to make a difference towards making our dreams a reality.

Remember that your problems are only as big as the perspective which you place them in.

All in all we have it pretty good here in America, we just need to shift our priorities away from material wealth and instead focus on enriching the human experience on a global level. The happier and better off our neighbors (on a global and local level) are, the happier our planet is.

One of the most frequent requests that I field is a request to be connected to our spirit guides. Before going into detail regarding this process and how they can assist us in our everyday lives, I would like to discuss spirit guides in general.

Many think that we have one primary spirit guide and perhaps a few others that come and go based upon where we are in our lives.

Many also think that spirit guides may be separate from our circle of friends and loved ones in spirit.

Others assume that we have one primary guide that we know from the other side and that is the extent of it.

The truth is that spirit guides come in all forms and from a multitude of backgrounds.

Spirit guides are no different from any other spirit, living or past – with the exception that they have taken an interest in our life and are here to offer their support and guidance.

Spirit guides may be human, animal or even possibly some other life form.

Spirit guides do not have to have a history or past with you in order to assist you.

Spirit guides may work with us for the duration of our lifetime or a shorter time period, even just minutes or hours.

Anyone who has passed can assume the role of a spirit guide.

We are not stuck with a certain number of guides, we may have many at one moment and the next minute find ourselves on our own or with just a single guide.

Our guides are customizable and as such we can assemble a “dream team” by identifying various areas within our life that we desire coaching in, compiling a list of deceased individuals who excelled at the areas of your life which you wish to improve and lastly, calling upon the spirit of each individual on your list to come to you and provide you with guidance and support.

Frequently I will advise clients who are pursuing such activities as writing, art and music (as examples) to think of individuals whom they greatly admired in their respective fields, and who have passed. Write down their names and ask them to come into your life and provide insights into the areas where you feel that they would be most helpful.

After performing the above exercise, I will then ask my client to book a follow-up session where we can see who responded for their request for assistance.

During the follow-up session I will look to identify those who responded to your request. It is important that you know a little bit about the individuals whom you called upon as I will be describing their physical appearance, perhaps the kind of work they do and other details such as manner of passing, their age, year born/past and much more.

It is in the best interests of those on the other side to assist in making this side run better/smoother. As this is the playground for the soul, those on the other side continue to work hard at making life here more enjoyable and the more that we experience success or are able to bring forward a vision inspired by a deceased artist, the more ready they are to part with their knowledge.

Of course not everyone who we ask to assist us will respond, but, nothing ventured nothing gained, it certainly does not hurt to ask.

When meditating with a guide, it is important to remember that you are seeking information, so if you clear your mind, you will be tossing our the advice that is being given to you.

The trick is to look at the information in your mind and to identify the source of the information.

For example, I frequently receive information through the use of music and music videos. The information can be in the form of lyrics or images in a music video.

If I flash on a song, especially one that I have not heard for sometime, and it seems to be stuck in my head, there usually is a spirit trying to get my attention and the information they wish to relay is contained within the images or lyrics associated with the music.

I use music to illustrate the point that what you are looking for is information in your mind that you did not put in there, and it is easy to identify a piece of music that we have not heard for some time and would not have any reason for it to simply be running in the background of our mind.

Recently I was chatting with some dogs and they gave me a great idea. They were discussing a topic and the fact that they had little to no input regarding the matter came up. It was then that the idea of providing a voice for the animals in their own magazine came up.

It would work something like this:

First I would have to interview dogs (and or other animals) and hold auditions to see who has the aptitude for it and the desire to contribute to the publication. The interviews would be set up through their people and those animals that were interested in the project and who had the best communication abilities would be considered for the job.

I would have several positions that I would be interviewing animals for. We would want to have a column all about dogs, one dedicated to cats and perhaps one for rabbits, hamsters and horses, of course reptiles and birds would want to get in on it at some point.

The easiest approach would be to model the magazine after an existing magazine in the field, with subtle changes here and there so that it is still it’s own format and of course the vast majority of the content would be generated by animal contributors.

I think that having a column that addresses senior pets and their special needs would be nice, as would be a fashion column by a fashion savvy dog. Other columns that would be fun would be one dedicated to the traveling pet, a health corner and of course reviews of current movies and TV shows that involve animals as well as product reviews, including snacks, treats and toys.

It could start out as an online magazine or simply launch alongside an established magazine that is already in the field.

The key is to have all of the articles produced by animals. Using either myself or some other previously vetted animal communicators, we would bring forward the content and be responsible for taking the information from the animals and translating it into english. This is an area where a good copy editor (human) would be helpful.

The magazine could include contests, photo galleries and much more … there could be one general magazine, or based upon it’s success, additional titles could be brought forth, such as for the birds by the birds.

The magazine would be a very straight forward communication from the animal world with as little spin being put on it by humans as possible. The target audience would be anyone who cares about animals and most importantly it should be viewed as a publication for the animals, by the animals. One that you can sit down with your dog and read to them, with the knowledge that the material in the articles was put forth by one of your animals peers.

There could be a question and answer column, similar to Dear Abbey or something of that nature.

I have heard of music CD’s where the music chosen for the CD was selected by dogs, for dogs. This is taking that concept to the next level.

I would be very interested in hearing back from others who wish to be involved in such a project, or who have thoughts and ideas regarding such a publication. Your comments are most welcome.

There is a lot of information out there on how to meditate. Some of it accurate and some of it designed to sell you books, CD’s and workshops. As a psychic medium and animal communicator who never embraced meditation on a formal level, either prior to recognizing and developing my abilities as a medium or after coming in to my work as a psychic, I have a vastly different viewpoint than many people on the subject of meditation.

Just as with any practice, there are varied directions that you can go in. Either you can utilize meditation for relaxation or you can use it to increase your abilities to communicate with spirit and or animals.

When seeking relaxation, most traditional meditation techniques will be adequate. By looking at each piece of information in or mind, identifying it, acknowledging it and discarding it, we are able to achieve a greater state of relaxation. The problem with this technique, is that any communications coming in by way of telepathic means (which is how most spirit communication and animal communication takes place) will be discarded through this process.

When seeking to establish communication with spirits and animals the process is different. While it is important to have a relatively calm mind, there is no benefit to tossing out all the material in your mind, as you will be removing all of the incoming messages that you are looking to connect with.

The first thing to do, is to understand how the process works. Essentially our minds are like a powerful laptop computer that is on a wifi connection. The laptop in this analogy is much like the mind in that it can display content from a variety of sources, a DVD, a computer disc, a webcam, a camcorder, streaming content over the internet, images and information from your hard drive and much more.

Just as the computer uses binary code as it’s operating language, the same is true of the mind. At it’s base, all communication, nay all functions of the computer are built upon binary code, I see the mind as being no different. This binary code, a series of ones and zeros, can be utilized to create content that is rich in color, movement and sound – quite remarkable when you think about it, and all without being connected to the source of the content as when pulling in information over a wifi connection.

Back to the meditation – so the goal is to go into the computer known as the mind and to parse out or differentiate the sources of the information contained within it and to determine their source.

First you have to identify a piece of information.

For example, you “see” a train in your mind.

Now you need to know the following:

Is the type of train important?

What kind of train is it?

Is it about this specific train, or about trains in general?

Is the reference tied to an event that is related in some way to a train?

For example, recently I had a dog who showed me a train. It seemed to be a bit of an older passenger train that had been kept up and was still in use, but not Amtrak. I asked my client if there would be a reason to see an image of a train coming from her dog. She said “no” that her dog had not traveled by train. I again had to ask about the train reference and she said that she thought that perhaps it was related to a conversation that took place among dinner guests at her house the night before. They had been discussing the wine train that tours the vineyards in Napa or Sonoma Valley and asked why her dog brought it up. Her dog went on to discuss the dinner guests involved in the conversation and related her personal feelings regarding them and the way they treated her.

The dogs information was in no way tied to a train, she did however use the train reference as a marker as to a certain time and place when a conversation had occurred regarding a certain train and of course what she wanted to talk about was the parties involved in the “train” conversation.

Of course much of the information in your mind is self generated, so it is important to quite your own thoughts and to quickly look at and acknowledge information generated by yourself so as to clear up the ability to see the “other” information coming in. It’s much like cleaning up a cluttered desk, if individual notes, projects and such are allowed to clutter up the work surface, it is hard to see any new messages that may be dropped by your desk, with all the clutter, they get lost in the shuffle and become part of the background noise, no different then your own self generated clutter. However with a clean workspace, you can clearly see any new pieces of information that are dropped on your desk, they stand out as much as a large black mark on a white board.

As you clear your mind of your own clutter, separate those thoughts that do not seem to come from you and set them to the side to be reviewed in depth. To determine if something came from your own thought processes, ask yourself this simple question. Did this piece of information originate from me? Did I generate this thought and or image? You should feel a bit of an energy burst, a mild adrenaline shock or static electrical discharge for your “yes” responses, and a “flatline” for a “no” response. I suggest asking the question three times, once you get a reply, ask the opposite, checking to make sure you do not get the same reply and then return to your original question and if you still get the same response, you know that you are receiving information accurately.

Once you have identified information in your mind that did not seem to originate from you, it’s time to review who they are coming from. Common sources would be family on the other side, (including animals) living animals, passed friends, spirit guides, individuals associated with recent or lifelong hobbies and or interests and much more. Determining as to if the person is male or female and as to if they are someone you know on a personal level are very helpful in identifying who is trying to communicate with you. As this posting is about meditation, further discussion in this area will take place at another time.

The key to meditation is intent, intent, intent.

If we wish to connect with a loved one in spirit and put forth the effort to do so in our mind, simply by asking them to connect with us and send us a sign that they are there, we should go into what I consider a relaxed, yet alert state. Once clearing the clutter of the mind, and checking to see if we had any unread messages hanging out in our mind, it is time to send out the request for contact, followed by sitting back and waiting for a response.

Just like when working with walkie-talkies, you must take your finger off of the send button in order to receive. The same is true of communicating on a telepathic level, you must stop sending … in order to receive.

After a few seconds, or even immediately and in rare cases after some time, you should “see” something “pop up” in your mind. Perhaps the information coming in is a reference to the person you wish to connect with, perhaps the information is related to the answer to the question you wished to ask a loved one in spirit. In very rare instances, those we wish to connect with, will not be available. When a spirit is not available, it usually does not mean that they are upset with you, they may simply be unavailable at the time.

One does not have to close their eyes to meditate, you can meditate even while driving. The next time while driving alone on a familiar stretch of fairly simple to negotiate roadway, turn off the stereo, put down your cellphone and instead ask to connect with a loved one in spirit.

I have never gotten “serious” about meditation and yet I communicate with the spirits of loved ones both here and on the other side day in and day out on a professional basis. It was not until I had begun providing readings to the general public that I began to take a few minutes for myself each day or so to sit quietly and check the “voicemail” within my mind. I still do not meditate in the “traditional” sense, and as long as what I do now fills me up with a sense of purpose, a calm energy, and a composed mind, I see no reason to begin monitoring my breathing by counting my inhalations and exhalations as is done with some meditative practices. I meditate to connect with my higher self, those in spirit and those from the animal kingdom. While meditation for relaxation is wonderful, it simply is not what this article is about and should it be something you desire to learn and or practice, I do encourage you to pursue it.

To learn more about the author of this article, psychic medium and animal communicator, Charles Peden, visit www.charlespeden.com.

Recently while working with a particularly difficult animal, it became apparent to me that my client had perhaps an unrealistic expectation when it came to what an animal communicator can and cannot do. This posting will address what you can expect and what you should not expect from a professional pet psychic, (animal communicator.)

Animal communicators are not a cure all, just as a therapist or counselor can communicate with the person having problems – it is dependent upon the party who needs help, accepting the help and communicating themselves. Just because we can talk with our children does not mean that they mind us, the same is true of our animal companions.

Most offending behaviors that animals display can be lumped into one of two categories. The first, acting out due to anger or frustration about their needs not being met. Secondly, a health problem that has not been properly identified and addressed. Sure, there are other reasons to act out, jealously, past trauma, a tension filled environment and other possible triggers, however the majority of “bad” behaviors often are triggered by the first two causes that were mentioned.

Let’s address the first one, your animals needs are not being met. Causes can include such issues as the following:

Lack of stimulation, such as play time and outside time.

A shortage of access to clean food and water.

Improper grooming and or filthy living quarters.

Too hot or too cold of an environment.

Overloaded litter boxes.

Strong smells in their environment.

The introduction of additional animals and or family members which upset the balance of attention in the home.

Most of the above mentioned issues are fairly obvious and easy to rectify, however with the busy lives that us humans lead, sometimes our animal companions are accidently neglected. When an animal has a problem such as described above, they are limited in what they can do to get our attention. Frequently when an animal is upset, they will exhibit a “bad” behavior, such as tearing up furniture, urinating and defecating in unacceptable locations, barking uncontrollably or worse, becoming aggressive. Unfortunately us humans frequently address the problem behavior, without understanding the cause. When this approach is employed it only causes more frustration and potential anger and frustration in the animal, leading to the situation becoming worse.

The second major issue, undiagnosed health issues also can become a battle within the home. Consider the following issues and how difficult they may be for the animal to relay to us.

Loss of hearing and or loss of sight.

Toothache, difficulty eating and or loss of weight along with a irritable disposition.

Muscle and or tendon damage, such as sprains, pulls and tears.

Stomach ulcers, various cancers and other chronic conditions.

Urinary infections, bladder stones, and such.

Arthritis, and joint pain.

Skin irritations.

Allergies and food sensitivities.

Mental issues, (dementia, chemical imbalances etc.)

With the above issues and many not listed, it may or may not be obvious to us as to what the problem is. In the case of a urinary infection, the animal may begin urinating outside of the litter box which could also indicate that the animal is upset with us over a need not being met. In the case of a urinary infection, we are lucky in that it is easy to diagnose by either ourselves or with a quick trip to the vet, and treatment is fairly straightforward. With such an issue as stomach ulcers, various cancers, as well as muscular and or neurological conditions, and so forth, diagnoses may be a bit more problematic. This is when a battery of tests is often embarked upon, frequently with each test costing more than the last one and all in an effort to pinpoint the cause of the problems being exhibited, by the process of elimination.

If your animal has a condition that is difficult to identify and is causing either you or the animal great difficulties either mentally or physically, and you are going through test after test or being presented a whole litany of tests and paths to follow by your animals medical care provider, a reputable animal communicator may be very beneficial in that they can help to pinpoint what tests should be performed. That being said, I would like to point out several things with regard to animal communicators, but first I would like to provide a definition of what an animal communicator or pet psychic is, as some of them call themselves.

Essentially an animal communicator is one who claims the following:

That they have the ability to communicate with your animals.

That the communication will be received via telepathy and that the animal need not be present.

That this communication will be very detailed and include specific details that only you and your animal would know.

That the communication can take place over any distance.

That the communication with your animal is not dependent upon them being living, in that they can speak with those who have passed, as well as the living.

As a former skeptic of such abilities, I will outline how one can easily provide a convincing reading that is completely fraudulent with only a few pieces of information to go on.

Too often I am asked if I need to see a photograph of the animal that they wish to communicate with. If you claim to be able to communicate with the animal telepathically, why do you need a picture?

With a photograph the “animal communicator” now knows the physical appearance of the animal and clues to their age. Perhaps there is additional information about you and or the animal contained within the photo, such as a gathering with family or your animal’s sleeping quarters, toys etc.

Many “pet psychics” request the age of your animal and perhaps even their birthdate.

With knowledge of the breed, it is pretty easy to simply provide details that are consistent with qualities and or issues associated with that particular type of animal. Of course, once again, if you can talk telepathically with animals, why do you need to ask the animals age, when they can simply tell you how old they are.

Some “animal communicators” will even ask for details regarding the animal and it’s health. Once again, why provide details, when this person claims to communicate with animals, many are well intentioned, yet are hacks at it.

Simply being able to recognize or hear a language does not make us literate and or fluent in it.

With one possessing the name, age, physical description and or breed, perhaps even details regarding medical history and often times much more, it is easy to reinforce some common issues with the particular breed and situation as well as providing flattery regarding you and your animal – after all who would not want to hear pleasing platitudes regarding their animal, provided that it is the truth of course. How does one know if what the animal communicator is saying is genuine? After all with the wealth of information you provided, “in order to establish a connection” as so many animal communicators/pet psychics claim, how does one know what to believe and what not to believe?

I suggest applying the following to your search for a reputable animal communicator/pet psychic:

Do not provide details regarding your animal/s and or situation in your initial contact with a prospective animal communicator. Instead one should simply state their purpose for contact, such as wishing to contact a living animal and one that has passed as well. Please don’t include their breeds, ages, pictures or anything else in your email or phone call.

Once you have an appointment set up, resist the urge to send pictures to the animal communicator – we all love our fur babies, but the photos are not needed and can only hurt the opportunity to receive a quality reading. Also hold back on providing back story, or anything else for that matter. Instead you should sit down and write down the names of those you wish to contact, living and or deceased and then write down your questions for them. The further in advance that you do this, the easier the reading is. Writing down your questions in advance provides the animals an opportunity to formulate well thought out responses to your questions.

What to expect during a reading:

At the start of the reading, do not volunteer information, simply state your primary objective and the name and species of the animal you wish to connect with. While the name is required, the species is not – it simply makes it much easier for the animal communicator to establish a connection as quickly as possible.

Within a very short period of time, usually seconds, a description should begin coming through. Details to expect would be among the following:

Physical appearance, such as size, coloring, type of coat and in some cases the name of the breed.

Frequently unusual markings, scars, past injuries, if passed – the way they passed, or what claimed their life will come through.

Favorite toys, games, foods, treats, activities, memories and more will very often come through.

Your animals age, (bearing in mind that the gestation period counts towards overall age) perhaps even specific ages or dates in respect to you and your relationship with the animal, such as how long they have lived with you.

Bear in mind that not all animals communicate the same, just as not all humans have the ability to sing well.

With a good connection, the communication should be very “conversational” and not in the least bit cryptic.

If your animal has passed, it is very common for something that has happened recently to you since their passing being brought up, frequently even details from earlier during the day you receive the reading will be brought forth.

Occasionally details that you are unable to confirm right away will come through, simply make a note of them and later they will either come to pass or make sense to you.

Additional details to consider regarding the relationship between your animal, yourself and the animal communicator:

The animal knows what their person is doing – your animals are dialed into you nearly 24/7 on a telepathic level. This applies to those in spirit as well.

If an animal’s person has contacted an animal communicator, trust me – the animal is all ears. Your animal companions are listening, responding to your inquires and or comments is up to them.

So much of telepathic communication is dependent upon what the intent is, so when the animal and the pet psychic look to connect the connection is usually secured within seconds. This takes place with the animal in the same room as the animal communicator, or over vast distances such as thousands of miles away.

The animal does not need to be present with their person.

The animal must be awake, if the animal has passed, they no longer sleep and therefore we do not have to worry about if they are awake or not.

Is it possible that there will be times when your animal will not communicate?

The answer is a simple yes, for many reasons they may not respond, including but not limited to the following:

If the relationship between the two of you was not very good, they may hold a grudge and not respond – though they can still hear you.

If the animal is asleep they will usually not connect.

When distracted by a demanding environment, such as outrunning a predator, it is possible that they will be too busy to connect.

Animals, like us tend to focus on what is physically in front of them and when in unfamiliar environments they tend to be distracted easily.

Animals that have passed tend to be very easy to connect with, and frequently their communication is improved upon their passing (in several instances where I have communicated with the animal well before passing and some time after passing.) The exception occasionally seems to be roughly a two week window following their passing, free of their physical restrictions and able to reunite with loved ones in spirit, they may take off for a while. Also on occasion they are still “getting their bearings” and after a few days or so will be in a much better position to communicate.

Most of the time your animal will communicate readily, in detail with a reputable animal communicator. There are of course exceptions to the rule, and hopefully there is now a greater understanding of what to expect and what not to expect when consulting an animal communicator/pet psychic.

A few additional words of wisdom:

Obsessive compulsive behaviors are difficult to correct and while an animal communicator may help, there certainly is no guarantee. On the other hand if you need to check in with your animal and find out how they feel about your bringing another animal into the home or end of life questions and such, an good animal communicator is nearly guaranteed to bring forward meaningful answers.

In my experience the best animal communicators/pet psychics do not avoid missing and or lost animal cases and will readily take them on.

During the first part of the reading you should ask “control” questions. These are questions that are designed to confirm a connection to the animal that you wish to connect with. Early on it is best to ask questions of a simply yes or no nature in their reply. This is very important when doing a reading in person and the animal is either present, or a photograph and or description has already been provided. Remember, the best pet psychics do not require a photograph in order to secure a telepathic connection with your animal.

The more time that is spent with the animal, frequently the better the communication becomes and often times you will find that absolutely any questions are fair game, regardless of the type of response required.

Never consult with an animal communicator or pet psychic who does not offer refunds for a failure to connect and bear in mind that more expensive, does not always mean better.

Most importantly remember that a reputable animal communicator is relay messages from your animals to you.

Your animal communicator most likely is not a trained behaviorist, doctor, trainer or vet. An animal communicator is simply a translator and advisor, by utilizing their gifts you can experience a stronger bond, connection and a deeper level of understanding and respect.

If for some reason your animal points you in the wrong direction or simply says something to get you off their back, remember that they most likely learned such behaviors from you. One unusual phenomena that occurs in a few older female dogs that have older women for their caretakers is that frequently the dogs will fudge on their age by a few years, kind of like you saying that you are still celebrating your 39th birthday, for the 5th time.

Charles Peden has been featured in numerous publications, heard on several radio stations and featured on TV. Recently while tuning into NPR you may have hear him on “On Point” you may have seen him briefly on Nightline or featured on the front page of the Amador Ledger Dispatch newspaper and it’s sister publication, the midweek Gold Mine.

Upcoming events include a speaking engagement at the Plymouth – Foothills Rotary Club and an appearance at this years annual fundraiser for the North Bay Humane Society, called Barkitecture, come see him at the Voter Preview Party – his fourth year in a row providing his services to the North Bay Humane Society, formally the Benicia/Vallejo Humane Society.

To learn more about the author of this posting, visit www.charlespeden.com and while there check out the “testimonials” page as well as the “media” page where you can listen to him channeling living and deceased animals while in the studios of various radio stations.